Verstappen on Canadian GP pole as Hamilton's fortune comes at Leclerc's expense

17 June 2023 , 21:14

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Max Verstappen mastered the wet conditions to qualify on pole in Montreal (Image: AP)

Max Verstappen mastered the wet Montreal weather to secure pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix.

Fernando Alonso did his best to match him with his first flying lap of Q3, but was two-tenths slower. But Nico Hulkenberg leapfrogged him into second place seconds before an Oscar Piastri crash brought out the red flags.

And, as the rain intensified, it became clear no-one was going to go faster. Lewis Hamilton qualified fourth behind Alonso with a good lap, but was lucky to be in Q3 at all after a Mercedes tyre strategy blunder in the middle part of qualifying left him on intermediates on a drying track.

Luckily for him, Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez were also on the wrong rubber compounds. They went slower in Q2 and were eliminated in that part of the session, while Hamilton scraped through by the skin of his teeth.

In Q1, it took just three minutes before the red flags were brought out. Zhou Guanyu was in trouble from the moment he left the pit lane as he put his foot down but found no power on the throttle, eventually coming to a stop at Turn 7 after trying to limp back to the garage.

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The stewards halted the session but, moments later, Zhou found a gear and was able to get going again under his own power. He got back to the pits and the session was restarted shortly after, with teams desperate to get out quickly due to a large approaching rain shower.

The conditions were making it tricky for those on track trying to set quick times before the downpour came. Both Hamilton and Leclerc had moments where they briefly went off track, though neither of them lost control of their cars and they were able to continue.

Verstappen on Canadian GP pole as Hamilton's fortune comes at Leclerc's expense

The rain was a major factor in qualifying (Getty Images)

The rain stayed away for Q1 and Pierre Gasly was the high-profile victim of that first part of the session. The Alpine driver was slapping his race helmet in anger as he shouted over the radio, angry about having been impeded by Carlos Sainz at the start of that final flying lap.

"Should be banned for such a thing! I'm coming at 300! What the f*** do they think?!" he yelled about Sainz. And the race director clearly took a dim view of the incident as Sainz was referred to the stewards for almost causing a scary crash, while Alpine chief Otmar Szafnauer felt Gasly would have been on for sixth place had he not been blocked off.

Zhou was slowest overall and will start the race from last place, sharing the back row with Logan Sargeant. Lining up just behind Gasly will by Nyck de Vries, with his AlphaTauri team-mate Yuki Tsunoda the last of the unlucky five to end their sessions earlier than planned.

Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz very nearly crashed in qualifying (Sky Sports)

It was still dry at the start of Q2 and Alex Albon took the risk of slick tyres. And that paid off as he set the time which would remain at the top throughout the session as the rain began to fall. Most others changed in time for at least one lap on the slicks, but not Leclerc and Perez.

They failed to reach Q3 as a result, with Leclerc furious at his Ferrari team for the strategy blunder. Christian Horner also shook his head on the pit wall in acknowledgement that Red Bull had also got it wrong for Perez. Hamilton also stayed on intermediate tyres, but managed to scrape through to Q3 nonetheless.

The better news for Red Bull was that Verstappen was at the top of the timesheets when Piastri crashed in Q3. With the rain getting heavier, it was becoming more and more clear no-one was going usurp him, nor the delighter Hulkenberg who delivered a very welcome front-row start for his Haas team.

Oscar Piastri's crash ended everyone else's chances of stopping Verstappen (Sky Sports)

Alonso will start third alongside Hamilton on the second row with George Russell behind them. Esteban Ocon went sixth quickest, just ahead of Lando Norris. Sainz was eighth quickest, but a penalty loomed after the session owing to that earlier incident with Gasly.

So Piastri and Albon, who qualified ninth and 10th, might expect to rise by a place. Still, it was such a shame for the Williams driver who had so cleverly booked his place in Q3 with that tyre gamble which paid off beautifully for him.